It can be frustrating to parents watching their teens waste vacation time socializing virtually instead of engaging in the moment. Heeding parents’ frustrations, hotels and resorts have responded with adolescent-savvy programming that encourages real-world interaction.

After a day on the slopes, the Beaver Creek Loves Teens Too program in Colorado kicks into gear (during the winter and spring seasons) with field trips in and around the resort: tubing at Vail’s Adventure Ridge, guided twilight snowshoeing, a class for ski and snowboard flips and stunts at the Anti-Gravity Center in nearby Edwards.

At family-run, all-inclusive Beaches resorts (Turks and Caicos, Negril, Ocho Rios), teens have their own spa menu, nightclub and games arcade complete with a Scratch DJ Academy. This year, Island Impact is offering the chance to work with local children on reading and computer skills.

A daily newspaper outlines dedicated activities for the 13- to 17-year-old set at Aulani, a Disney resort in Hawaii. Aside from an extensive menu of water sports, there are youth-specific fitness classes and spa services (along with DIY product tutorials) at the Painted Sky Teen Spa.

Small group trekking adventures (parents tag along on these) to locales like Thailand, Peru, Costa Rica and Tanzania can help children forget about Snapchat. Thomson Family Adventures offers active teen trips that focus on immersive culture: camping at an ancient Inca quarry, spending the afternoon with Masai teens.

Other properties the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, Half Moon Montego Bay in Jamaica, and Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit in Mexico have tech-forward “chill zones” where teenagers convene over old- and new-school gaming. Counselors double as concierges and organize outdoor group experiences.

Santa Fe discounts

Santa Fe, N.M., is offering a spring break promotion with kid-friendly specials through early April. The deals include free or discounted lodging, meals and activities, such as a free Canyon Road Tour with Santa Fe Art Tours (normally $25; enter promo code KIDSFREESF).

At the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado, book one room at a standard rate (from $479 a night) and receive a second room for half off (from $240). The package also includes a kids’ welcome amenity, free Adventure Excursions with a paid adult ticket and half off a second 50-minute facial (normally $165). The deal is valid through April 15. For more information, visit santafe.org/Spring_Break.

H.P. Lovecraft’s fame a boon to Providence, R.I.

Fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s writings are trying to use the fame of the early-20th-century fantasy-horror writer to promote Providence’s weird side. On Tuesday, a marker was unveiled near where Lovecraft’s childhood house in Providence once stood on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of his death.

The nonprofit Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council placed the marker as part of a broader effort to foster the weird fiction and art community in Providence and to highlight Lovecraft and other writers and artists. It is working to publicize local historic sites, weird events and unique destinations. The council wants to use Lovecraft to present Providence as a capital for weird, fun and imaginative events, said Niels Hobbs, director of the nonprofit.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born in Providence on Aug. 20, 1890. He spent a brief period in New York, then returned and lived in Providence until his death on March 15, 1937. An obscure pulp fiction magazine writer in his lifetime, Lovecraft was rediscovered in the decades following his death, inspiring a new generation of horror, fantasy and science-fiction writers. While considered one of the great American horror writers, Lovecraft is considered controversial because some of his writings include his racist beliefs.

Lovecraft aficionados, drawn to Providence, leave trinkets and notes at the author’s gravesite in Swan Point Cemetery. The Lovecraft council has a store downtown and holds conventions and events to celebrate his work and influence. An annual Lovecraft tribute draws crowds to the Ladd Observatory in Providence, where Lovecraft often visited, and to Lovecraft’s gravesite. This year’s event is planned for April 10.

New York City museum explores dinosaur-bird links

Imagine a Tyrannosaurus rex with feathers. That idea and the links between some dinosaurs and today’s birds are explored in an upcoming exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

“Dinosaurs Among Us” opens Monday and continues through Jan. 2.

Birds belong to a group called the Dinosauria. While they drastically differ from their ancient ancestors, the exhibition will show that many similarities remain. For example, scientists believe Tyrannosaurus rex likely had both feathers and a wishbone.

The exhibition will feature models of a 23-foot-long feathered tyrannosaur and a small dromaeosaur with a 22-inch wingspan and patterned plumage. Visitors also will learn that some dinosaurs’ eggs were blue-green. Today’s birds are the only living creatures to have colored eggshells.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.